Long-term Multivitamin Use Does Not Reduce CVD Risk in Men

Baseline nutritional status does not influence the effect of randomized long-term multivitamin use on major CVD events.

(HealthDay News) — A daily multivitamin doesn't benefit cardiovascular health in men, according to a study published online in JAMA Cardiology.

Howard Sesso, ScD, MPH, of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and colleagues tracked data from an ongoing study of 13,316 U.S. male physicians over the age of 50.

The team found that taking multivitamins did not reduce the men's risk of cardiovascular disease over 11 years of follow-up. The findings held for men even with poor baseline nutritional status.

"Many had thought that men with 'poor' nutritional status at baseline may benefit more from long-term multivitamin use on cardiovascular outcomes; however, we did not see any evidence for this in our recent analysis," Sesso said in a hospital news release.